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Monday, December 22, 2008

My youngest son had just been moved from his crib to his “big boy bed”, which meant he was at the age where not only the earth revolved around him, the entire universe was expected to be at his beck and call.

It had been an especially trying day. I had tried my best to display patience and love with my discipline, but my nerves were wearing thin. As his bedtime approached I looked forward to putting him down for the night. I was frazzled and worn out and wanted nothing more than peace and quiet without it being punctuated with his tantrums.

I wanted to get some of the joy back to my day before the hours ran out.

“Steal” is one of those words that has a lot of different meanings: steal a glance, steal away, steal second base. It all means basically the same thing - to take something that’s probably not rightfully yours to take.

The eighth commandment obviously means “to take something that belongs to somebody else, illegally or without the owner's permission”, as my computer dictionary states it. When teaching our children about this commandment, though, we need to present all the many facets of ‘taking something that belongs to somebody else’.

Their time.Their work (i.e. plagiarism).Their recognition for something well done.Their resources.Their joy.

There’s more to stealing than lifting five dollars from mom’s purse or pocketing a candy bar from the local store. Some of the things that can be stolen will have crossover into other commandments. Stealing someone’s recognition, for instance, has to do with coveting as well.

“You shall not steal”, with all its many facets, can be taught proactively during family devotions. It will also be one of those things that, as you provide character training to your child, will undoubtedly come up as ‘teachable moments’.

Fortunately for me, as I prepared to lay my son down to sleep in hopes of recapturing what was left of my frayed sanity, the Lord spoke through my son. After saying his prayers I pulled the covers up to his chin. He pulled his little hand out from under the blanket and began lovingly stroking my face. Before he drifted off, his body weary from the battles he’d fought that day, he looked into my eyes and sleepily said, “You’re beautiful, mama.”

Joy restored.

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